


Manitou Kesi'kaw

by Tamorasky



Series: Mistress Anna [3]
Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: Christmas fic, Colonialism, Cozy, F/M, Healing through Culture, Metis - Freeform, Metis Christmas, Mistress Anna, Reflection, Takes place between chapter 18 and 19, VPRKfrozine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:55:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28318566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tamorasky/pseuds/Tamorasky
Summary: Anna's first Christmas in Ahtohallan after returning from Fort Arendelle.
Relationships: Anna/Kristoff (Disney)
Series: Mistress Anna [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1848331
Comments: 12
Kudos: 18





	Manitou Kesi'kaw

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! This is the piece I wrote for the zine for the Valiant Pungent Reindeer Kingdom discord server as a morale booster after the year we've all had. 
> 
> I don't know if it's any good, I should've edited better but here we are. 
> 
> You can find other people's work here! https://www.tumblr.com/search/VPRKfrozine. 
> 
> Thank you Melanie for proof-reading this fic <3

Rupert’s Land, 1853 

Anna places the cast-iron kettle down on the wood-burning stove, cleaning her hands on her brown apron before wiping the sweat from her brow. Despite the frigid weather outside, the one-room cabin is growing increasingly warm from the stove and fireplace being lit all morning and throughout lunch. 

The auburn-haired woman turns to the dining table behind her, beginning to clear the dishes from the surface. She places the plates onto the counter built into the wall, where the washing basin sits. She would have to ask Elsa to fetch water from the well. Since the snow fell in October getting water from the well had become quite an undertaking for Anna. 

It is funny to Anna that after two winters away from home, how many of these tasks seemed difficult now. Many of the chores that had once been a part of her regular routine before leaving for Fort Arendelle now seemed tasking on her body. 

As she sets the dishes down onto the counter, Anna glances out of the window to her side. A smile crossing her features as she observes Elsa cutting more firewood in the white expanse. While Kristoff stands to the side with Anna’s 17-month-old daughter, Eliza, in his arms as they watch the brunette woman cut wood. 

She is unable to take it anymore. Since the early snowfall, Anna takes every opportunity to be out in the snow with Eliza, who had only been a baby during the winters in Arendelle. This is the first winter the toddler could actually enjoy. 

Anna rushes towards the door, slipping on her black leather boots and lacing them tightly. She grabs the white point blanket sitting on the trunk next to the door, wrapping it around her shoulders upon opening the door. 

The young woman squints as she crosses the threshold, the sun glaring against the snow casting into her eyes. 

“Mama!” Eliza yells out at the sight of her mother, reaching her chubby arms out to Anna. They had wrapped the toddler in a couple of woollen sashes, having no coat for Eliza to wear to play in the snow with Kristoff. 

“Hi, sa jaang,” Anna calls back, taking her daughter from Kristoff as she stands next to them. She presses a kiss on the toddler’s chubby cheek, causing her to squeak with laughter. Anna peers up at Kristoff with a smile. “I didn’t realize you were coming over today.” 

“I have a gift for this one.” Kristoff takes Eliza’s foot into his hand and wiggles it. 

“You did not have to do that,” Anna responds with a sigh. The sound of Elsa chopping wood echoing throughout the river lot. 

“Of course, I did! What kind of a papa would I be?” He inquires, a crease forming between his brows as he stares at his childhood friend. Anna’s smile drops slightly, faltering at his statement. It had only been a few months since Eliza started to refer to Kristoff as her ‘Papa.’ And Anna is still not used to him, referring to himself as such. But she loved it.

Her heart pounding in her chest, Anna glances down to the ground as her cheeks become flushed. “T-thank you.” 

“Are you going to just stand there watching?” Elsa calls out, wiping sweat from the back of her neck. “Kristoff, come help me get the wood into the house.” 

“Alright, I’m coming,” Kristoff calls back, shaking his head while chuckling. “God, the Arneson sisters, still as bossy as ever.” 

Anna sticks her tongue out at him in response as the man makes his way over to the older Arneson sister. The young mother cannot make out what Kristoff and Elsa are talking about as they gather the freshly chopped wood. 

The pair carry the firewood inside, struggling with the front door with full arms. Anna continues to stand in the clearing, looking at the land around her. Freshly fallen snow on the ground, each crystalline glimmering in the sunshine. 

Anna had forgotten how much she missed Ahtohallan during Christmas time. Her two winters in Arendelle had been lonely ones; the first year was spent newly pregnant with Hans still cross with her over the news of her pregnancy. The next, she spent alone with her 5-month-old daughter while Hans was in London. 

This year she is not alone. Though it will not be the same without their mother here. They would make the best of it. It was different for Elsa as well; for the past two years, the older Arneson sister had been spending Christmas with her Cree friend, Honeymaren. It will be different for both of them. 

Eliza begins to wiggle in her arms, begging to be set free from her mother’s embrace. With a sigh, Anna places her daughter down, allowing the girl to toddle through the snow. Anna watches as Eliza sits in the snow, playing with the soft powder. 

Neither of them notice Kristoff emerge from the house, meandering towards Anna and their daughter. Anna’s arms are crossed as she suppresses a shiver, the wool blanket wrapped around her shoulders not providing her with enough warmth. 

“Anna,” He calls out, observing how her shoulders shake lightly. “I can watch her. How about you go inside and help Elsa with dinner.” 

“I can bring her inside. I don’t want to inconvenience you.” Anna shrugs, preparing to pick her daughter up from the ground, but Kristoff raises his hand to stop her. 

“Anna, seriously, it is fine. Go inside.” He insists, tucking his hands into the pockets of his white capote jacket. Another shiver courses through her, nodding in agreeance with the blonde man. 

“Once her ears turn red, bring her in, alright?” Anna walks past her daughter. She comes to stand next to Kristoff, staring up at him as he nods in understanding. 

“Do not worry, I will be sure to.” He reassures. With some reluctance, Anna withdraws from Kristoff, leaving him with her daughter. She feels somewhat guilty over leaving her daughter with him. Although Kristoff always insists for Eliza to be left in his care, Anna feels as if she is taking advantage of him. 

She pats his bicep as she meanders back towards the house, knocking her boot against the porch to be rid of the excess snow clinging to the leather. Stepping up onto the veranda, Anna takes a step toward the door, pushing her way through the threshold. 

Settling on the truck next to the door, Anna unties her boots, discarding them into a heap on the floor as she slips the blanket from her shoulders. Elsa sits at the table, a prairie chicken lying in front of her, while the woman cleans the bird. 

Anna meanders towards the table, standing behind the chair the faces the window. Her fingers tap against the wood of the chair, a smile crossing her features at the sight of Kristoff playing with Eliza in the snow. 

Since returning to Ahtohallan this summer with Eliza on her back, Anna knows that her decision to leave the community she grew up in, to be with Hans was a mistake. He had tried to take everything from her in the two years she lived with him. It was two years of separation from her traditions and culture in an attempt to rip her away from her Metis heritage. 

Watching Kristoff sprinkle snow in Eliza’s rust curls with laughter. Anna wonders if perhaps she should have married him when she was 17 years old. Back when she could not entertain such a thought. But these past few months, something had changed between them. 

There is no denying it any longer. The day after they foraged for mushrooms, she tried desperately to push those feelings away. But with everything that has occurred between them over these months, the way her heart pounds from the way he stares at her. Anna wishes she had never left Ahtohallan and had stayed with him. 

Anna blinks, pulling her gaze away from Eliza and Kristoff towards her sister. “Can I borrow your jacket and mittens?”

Elsa glances up at the auburn-haired woman, her brows furrowed. “I am sure Mama kept your things in one of these trunks. We can find them.” 

“I…” Anna shakes her head. “I do not think I am ready yet.” 

The brunette nods, understanding her sister’s hesitancy in reclaiming that part of herself still. “Go right ahead.” 

Anna smiles at her sister before withdrawing from the chair. Elsa’s capote coat and sash hang on the wooden coat rack, her buckskin and rabbit fur mittens tucked into the pockets. She places on the men’s coat, securing it closed with the sash as Anna tucks her hands into the soft oak-coloured mittens. 

Pushing through the door, Anna steps onto the veranda, letting the porch door slam shut behind her. She steps off the porch, walking through the deep snow towards her daughter and Kristoff. 

He sits in the snow, his cheeks and the tips of his ears slowly becoming red from the cold while watching Eliza gather snow. It is clear to Anna that her daughter is attempting to make a snowman, and most likely told Kristoff to only watch until he is needed. 

Anna slowly approaches him, the crunch of the snow beneath her boots alerting him of her presence. The blonde glances behind him, a grin forming at the sight of the young woman. With a grunt, Anna lowers herself to the ground next to her childhood friend. 

“You have been told to only watch?” Anna inquires. Quite amused as they watch Eliza pick up little bits of snow and discarding them onto a pile that somewhat resembles a base for a snowman. 

“She was quite clear about that with me.” Kristoff chuckles, reaching up to scratch his head with his mitten covered hand. Anna giggles as he withdraws his hand as small snowflakes have dusted his hair. Her eyes catch his gloves, taking his wrist into her hand without any hesitancy. 

“These are the gloves I gave you before you left for Quebec in the spring of ’51,” Anna states, taking in every small detail of them. The leather had become worn over the years, and the beading slowly unravelling. 

“Yeah…” Kristoff nods. Resisting the urge to rub the back of his neck as Anna inspects his hands and ignores how his cheeks slowly begin to warm. “They were my only pair, so I have gotten good use out of them.” 

“I am glad.” Anna’s touch lingers on Kristoff, resisting the urge to turn over his hand and take it into her own. She peers up at him, her heart pounding as he gazes at her as if taking in every freckle across her cheeks. 

“Anna…” He whispers as he turns his hand over, to take her mitten covered hand into his own. Staring at her in a way that made Anna always question every choice she had ever made. 

“Kristoff, I…” Anna trails off, the feeling climbing up inside of her nearly becoming overwhelming as he continues to stare at her. The words almost slipping out, I love you.

She opens her mouth to say it, her mouth dry and leaning closer to him. Only instead upon finding the words, does she let go of his hand, offering him a smile, “I wanted to say how much it means to us, that you are with us for Christmas.” 

Kristoff blinks at her, not having expected that. He reciprocates the smile with a nod, “I am glad that I am spending Christmas with you.” 

The couple pull their gazes away from one another towards the toddler, who now requires her papa’s help with her snowman. Kristoff stands with a groan, kneeling on the ground next to his daughter as she points. 

Anna’s smile drops as she observes Kristoff and Eliza together. There is no denying her feelings about him any longer. She loves him. Vowing to herself that this new year, she will tell him when she is ready. 

Unbeknownst to her, the following Christmas would be spent across the Medicine Line in their new home as a newly married couple with Eliza and a second daughter on the way. 


End file.
